Fielding Graduate University News

Teach – In for Public Education K-12 and Beyond:

A critical exploration and discussion about the future of public schools in the age of standardized tests, corporate reforms, and neo-liberal economics.

As part of its National Summer Session in Rosemont, IL, Fielding Graduate University invites the extended Chicago community to join the panel discussion titled Teach-In on Public Education—K-12 and Beyond, on July 16, 7-10 pm at The Westin O'Hare, 6100 N River Rd, Rosemont, IL 60018. This evening program will provide a critical exploration and discussion about the future of public schools in the age of standardized tests, corporate reforms, and neo-liberal economics. This conversation will be led by distinguished scholar-activists Michelle Fine,PhD, and Ira Shor, along with organizers Regina Tuma, PhD (Media Psychology Faculty) and Kathy Tiner-Sewell, PhD (Program Director, Educational Leadership for Change). In the true spirit of a teach-in this event is open and inclusive. Educators, students, activists and anyone interested in participating, sharing and discussing this topic is encouraged to attend.

The Teach-In on Public Education—K-12 and Beyondwill draw attention to corporate educational and testing reforms which are threatening the very idea of public education across the nation. “Corporate education and testing reforms have long ceased to be about improving the quality of learning in our public schools. There is a need to develop empowering narratives and a counter-critique to corporate testing reforms and their effects,” Tuma stated.

Fine, Shor and Tuma are among the founding members of Montclair (NJ) Cares About Schools, an activist parent group working in coalition with civil rights groups, NAACP, and teachers to provide alternatives to the logic of corporate test reforms in Montclair. Tuma added: “Montclair is an interesting case. It is a progressive, mixed, hip suburb near New York City and flanked by Newark to its south. It is known for creative, progressive education and the town fought a hard battle to desegregate its schools, creating a model magnet system and de-tracked classrooms. Ironically, it also happens to be home to a ‘who’s who’ in the national education reform movement. Many of our neighbors in Montclair have been influential in determining the course of national policy in education. That fact alone adds a different tone and dimension to the rhetoric in Montclair. Let’s just say that it makes for awkward glances at the supermarket.”

Tiner-Sewell sees this conversation as a natural extension of Fielding values: "Michelle and Ira bring with them their experience as critical scholars and activists. Their presence at Fielding is appropriate given Fielding’s values of social justice, equity, and diversity as these are embodied through our scholar-practitioner model.” She further reflected, “Graduate students have been coming to Fielding for 40 years to become agents of change and establish communities of practice in their own locales. In the true spirit of a teach-in, we hope to raise critical awareness of these issues on education.” Tiner-Sewell emphasized that these reforms have the capacity to redefine learning and redefine the role of public education in a democracy. “Regina and I agree that one outcome of the teach-in is to promote conversations that can help our society think about the role of quality public education in a democracy. We are excited by this collaboration with Ira and Michelle and our extended collaboration with the broader Chicago-area community.”

MICHELLE FINE is Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology, Women’s Studies and Urban Education at the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). A highly influential educator and activist, her work addresses questions of social injustice that sit at the intersection of public policy and social research, particularly with respect to youth in schools and criminal justice.

Michelle has authored, co-authored, or edited more than 20 books, 70 chapters in key national and international volumes, and 80 journal articles. Her most recent book, with Michael Fabricant, is “The Changing Politics of Education: Privatization and the Dispossessed Lives of Those Left Behind.” A recognized pioneer in participatory action research, Michelle’s scholarship and activism address critical issues of what she calls “circuits of dispossession and resistance,” documenting how youth contend with, are affected by, and resist inequities and the rising “punishment paradigm” in prisons, schools, communities, and social movements.

Her activism includes serving often as expert witness in gender, race, and education discrimination cases, including test-based graduation requirements in urban districts. Most recently, Michelle has been intensely involved with MCAS - Montclair (NJ) Cares About Schools - an activist group of parents working with educators, labor and civil rights groups, in a struggle over corporate reform and testing in a racially integrated suburban school district.

IRA SHOR is a Professor of Rhetoric/Composition at the City University of NY’s Graduate Center (PhD Program in English) and in the Dept. of English at the College of Staten Island/CUNY. Shor started the new doctorate in Rhetoric/Composition at the CUNY Grad Center in 1993. There, he directs dissertations and offers seminars in literacy, Paulo Freire and critical pedagogy, whiteness studies, composition theory and practice, and the rhetorics of domination and resistance. At the College of Staten Island/CUNY, he teaches first-year writing, non-fiction, coming-of-age narratives, multicultural literature, and mass media. His 9 published books include a 3-volume set in honor of the late Paulo Freire, the noted Brazilian educator who was his friend and mentor: “Critical Literacy in Action” (college language arts) and “Education is Politics” (Vol 1, k-12, and Vol. 2, Postsecondary Across the Curriculum). Shor’s work with Freire began in the early 1980s and lasted until Freire’s unfortunate passing in 1997. He and Freire co-authored “A Pedagogy for Liberation in 1986”, the first “talking” book Freire published with a collaborator. Shor also authored the widely used “Empowering Education” (1992) and “When Students Have Power”(1996), two foundational texts in critical teaching. His “Critical Teaching and Everyday Life”(1980) was the first book-length treatment of Freire-based critical methods in the North American context. That book grew out of Shor’s teaching for Open Admission students in the City University in the 1970s, where he helped build an experimental writing program recognized as one of three successful efforts in higher education. Coming to the CUNY in 1971 after a PhD at Wisconsin, he experimented with critical literacy, taught Basic Writing for 15 years, and now teaches first-year composition and graduate courses.

Born in 1945 in the South Bronx of New York City, Shor attended public schools. After graduating from Bronx Science High School, Shor attended the University of Michigan (BA, English, 1966), then the University of Wisconsin (MA, 1968, and PhD, 1971), both sites of student activism in the 1960s. His dissertation was on Kurt Vonnegut whose fiction stood against elitism, war, and cruelty. After finishing his PhD, Shor started teaching comp and basic writing at Staten Island Community College, then a 2-year unit of CUNY. He joined the CUNY faculty when the democratic policies of Open Admissions and free tuition were under attack.

The Society for Military Psychology established a Student Chapter at Fielding Graduate University

The Society for Military Psychology, which is Division 19 of the American Psychological Association (APA), has promoted research and practice in military psychology since its initiation as one of the original APA chapters. Division 19 members are involved in a variety of activities including research, treatment delivery, consultation, teaching, and advising congressional committees. Within Division 19, the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) strives to promote awareness, competence, and scholarship in military psychology among students.

In 2012-2013, the Division 19 Executive Committee recognized an opportunity to incorporate an increasingly large student base. It then made student involvement a top priority of Division 19’s overall agenda. SAC formed a Student Chapter Network to foster a Division 19 presence on university campuses and connect students at different campuses. The Student Affairs Committee appointed student leaders at several of these universities, including Fielding Graduate University. Along with 35+ other Campus Representatives in universities across the country, Jeremy Jinkerson was appointed a Campus Representative to serve throughout 2014 and 2015. The Student Chapter Network allows Fielding’s Student Chapter access to other campus leaders, professional development opportunities, and inter-school collaboration. For example, Fielding’s Student Chapter is hosting an upcoming military psychology seminar in Memphis, TN on June 21st in coordination with the University of Memphis and APA’s Division 56 (Trauma Psychology).

Since initiating Fielding’s Student Chapter, which is chaired by Dr. Daniel Holland, and presided over by Jeremy Jinkerson, completed initiatives have included holding two meetings, electing officers, developing a programming schedule with notable guest speakers, securing a speaker for the national programming track, and creating a local online portal with calendars and forums (Moodle). In the creation of our programming schedule, chapter leadership has secured presentations by military leaders in psychology, current military psychology interns, and veteran researchers in related disciplines. Members have provided feedback that Division 19’s organized presence has been beneficial in uniting fragmented military psychology enthusiasts, acknowledging the need for specialized training in this area, and giving military spouses a venue to honor their spouses within psychology.

Fielding’s Division 19 Student Chapter is also actively partnered with Fielding Veterans Connection. Fielding Division 19 officers sit on the Fielding Veterans Connection planning committee, and the Veterans Connection serves in an advisory capacity to the Division 19 Student Chapter. The two groups work closely on most events and initiatives. Future initiatives include service projects related to helping active military, veterans, and military families.

Fielding's model of distributed learning can be particularly appealing to students with military connections. However, student organizations like Division 19 and the Fielding Veterans Connections serve an additional need by expressing value in military psychology, addressing the interests of those with military connections, and supporting individuals wishing to work with military populations. The Student Chapter’s intention is to not only provide practical advice, beneficial presentations, and a heightened awareness of the importance of military psychology specialization, but to foster a stronger sense of community among Fielding students with military connections.

Division 19 membership is valuable and inexpensive. Benefits include student list-serv and social media access, leading-edge webinars, career support, early information on new training programs, newsletter publication opportunities, and subscriptions to the Military Psychologist newsletter (published three times per year) and Military Psychology journal (published six times per year). Student research and travel awards are also available. Student affiliate members are $10, and more information on benefits can be found at http://www.apa.org/about/division/div19.aspx. More information on Division 19 student programs can be found at http://www.division19students.org.

We encourage all Fielding students with interests in military psychology, regardless of military affiliation, to apply for membership and to attend any of our scheduled meetings. If you have any questions or would like to be added to the Student Chapter Moodle group, please contact one of the Student Chapter officers by email. We look forward to growing the Student Chapter, serving the community, and adding to the field in innovative ways.

Fielding Graduate University Receives 2014 Best Value School Trophy

Non-traditional graduate degree programs appeal to working adults

Mature enough to do graduate coursework without handholding? Take a look at Fielding Graduate University.

While traditional master’s and doctoral degree programs, expensive and only taught on campus, were once the only option, today’s graduate student enjoys many non-traditional choices. Graduate programs, many of them online and reasonably priced, emerged over the last fifteen years. The most recent development, according to Joseph Schmoke, CEO at University Research & Review, LLC, is centered on competency based learning.

“The credit hour based system has been supplanted in some institutions of higher learning with a competency based system, where what you learn overshadows how much time you spend attending classes,” said Schmoke, a former university CEO. One such program is offered at Fielding Graduate University, Schmoke noted. “Fielding, in our opinion, is especially attractive to people who must continue with fulltime jobs. Our research shows their master’s and doctoral programs are best for serious, disciplined adults who can do the work without much handholding,” Schmoke remarked.

University Research & Review, a relatively new organization led by former college and university presidents, CEOs, provosts and professors, searches for institutions of higher learning that meet stringent criteria. Institutions that meet UR&R’s rigorous requirements, including reasonable cost and student endorsement among other things, are designated Best Value Schools and awarded a crystal trophy. Fielding Graduate University is one such school.

“We selected Fielding Graduate University as a 2014 Best Value School after about three months of research during which we evaluated hundreds of schools to come up with 124 nominees. Our process then dug deeper and our Selection Committee awarded sixteen institutions the Best Value School designation, Fielding among them,” said Dr. Denzil Edge, Selection Committee member.

“To those who are considering enrolling in a master’s or doctoral degree program, especially if your field of study is organizational behavior or psychology and you can work without too much handholding, we recommend you take a look at Fielding Graduate University,” Schmoke advised.

“Every prospective college student, whether recent high schools grads or adults with jobs and families, should take the time to visit our website,” said Paula Orezi, UR&R Nominating Committee member. She knows prospective college enrollees will find some good schools that won’t burden them with loads of debt after graduation. “I wish I had access to bestvaluecolleges.org when I was selecting my bachelor’s and master’s programs. My own student loan debt would be substantially less,” Ms. Orezi stated.

From the Office of President Katrina Rogers, PhD

One of our senior academic leaders, Charles McClintock, PhD, is leaving Fielding’s administration to become president of the Santa Barbara & Ventura Colleges of Law, a well-known law school here on the Central Coast. He will begin his appointment in mid-June on a part-time basis and assume the role full time in September.

Fielding has been fortunate to have the benefit of Charles’s leadership for these last thirteen years. As dean of the School of Human and Organizational Development (HOD) for eleven years from 2001 to 2012, McClintock guided the doctoral and masters programs to steady enrollments and curricular improvement, while recruiting fully half of HOD's diverse and academically strong doctoral faculty. HOD became a model for student-centered policies, faculty productivity and clear workload norms, scholarship, entrepreneurship, and alumni engagement.

While serving as dean, McClintock created the Institute for Social Innovation (ISI) in 2002 through the first grant in Fielding's history obtained from the Irvine Foundation. Through ISI, McClintock supported development of the accredited Evidence Based Coaching program (one of our most profitable CE programs), the first endowed scholarship (Don Bushnell Scholarship for Organizational and Social Change), and the first endowed Chair for faculty research (the Malcolm Knowles Chair). In addition, through ISI Fielding has obtained grants and contracts from the McCune, Kellogg, and Kettering foundations among others, and many local and national organizations and philanthropies, including most recently the Foundation Center which supports nonprofits around the nation. These accomplishments and many other ISI projects over the years have provided much needed support for students, opportunities for alumni engagement, and have given Fielding the extra leverage needed to obtain the Carnegie Foundation national designation for Fielding as a Community Engaged University. I urge to you look at the ISI webpage (www.fielding.edu/isi) to see the breadth of effort and documentation of research, continuing education, and consulting projects that simply did not exist at Fielding before the creation of ISI.

In addition to these significant contributions, McClintock applied his many years of experience at Cornell University to improve the rigor of our organizational processes, both within the School of HOD when he was Dean, and to the university as a whole. For all these reasons, McClintock leaves Fielding a much stronger institution than it would have been without his presence.

Finally, McClintock and his wife, Carol Wilburn, have made a leadership gift to support an archiving and history project that will chronicle Fielding's reputation as a pioneer in graduate education for working professionals founded on competency assessment and faculty mentoring. This gift, along with others we are exploring, will give us the means to create an archive of oral history and written materials that document Fielding's innovative role in the evolution of American graduate education. We are grateful to McClintock for his thirteen years of outstanding leadership and this generous parting gift.

Competency Based Education and Fielding

Fielding is poised to lead a national conversation on its application to doctoral education.

From the Office of President Katrina Rogers, PhD

As competency based education has become a subject of interest to many institutions across the country, especially for baccalaureate and masters study, Fielding Graduate University is poised to lead a national conversation on its application to doctoral education. Regardless of degree type, competency based education (CBE) addresses issues critical to the long-term vitality of higher education including access, time to degree, and affordability.

In contrast to the American model of doctoral education based on apprenticeship in research and required seminars in a standardized curriculum, forty years ago Fielding pioneered an alternative model based on concepts of adult learning, or andragogy. Formalized by one of our founding faculty members, Malcolm Knowles, the androgogical approach to doctoral education emphasizes mentoring, self-directed and self-paced learning, and assessment of prior learning. These are some of the core elements of CBE.

The application of CBE to doctoral education is complex since the required learning can be both technical and precise while also requiring abstract and conceptual skills. Depending on academic content, knowledge and skill acquired through prior work and professional experience may be readily assessed in relation to degree requirements. Similarly, students’ previous formal education may be leveraged through advanced experience to satisfy higher level learning such as is required in doctoral education.

The work of faculty in this mixed model of assessing learning can require an uncoupling of faculty roles in defining the curriculum, mentoring, and assessing learning. For more technical curricula, such as in science and engineering, these roles may remain bundled together while in professional, social science and humanities fields the functions can be uncoupled to take advantage of the potential benefits to students of following a CBE, or mixed CBE and traditional, path to the degree.

Accredited by WASC and various professional associations, Fielding Graduate University was founded in 1974 as a non-profit, independent graduate school for the adult learner. Representing progressive education, Fielding’s learning was modeled on competency-based concepts. Located around the country, Fielding students create learning contracts with individual faculty mentors in knowledge areas required for various doctoral degrees. Students and faculty meet periodically in workshops and local clusters to advance and demonstrate learning. Faculty mentors’ primary role is to assess learning rather than teach in a traditional format.

The requirements of regional and professional accreditation created an evolution in Fielding’s education such that we now have a mix of traditional and CBE approaches to doctoral education. Currently, the focus of CBE experiments is on baccalaureate and masters education, yet the concepts have important application to doctoral education as well. Given its history and now mixed-model of educational delivery, Fielding is in a particularly advantageous to examine the role of CBE in doctoral education and assess its promise to address important issues of access, affordability and degree completion.

Barclay Hudson, EdD

Master's Faculty Member - School of Human & Organizational Development

Hudson Granted Faculty Emeritus by the Fielding Board of Trustees in April 2014.

Barclay Hudson is a consulting economist, educator, and environmental policy analyst with wide-ranging experience in organizational development and academic research. He received his EdD in educational planning and organizational development from Harvard University, where he also did undergraduate work in economics, including forecasting studies under Nobel Prize-winner Wassily Leontief. His doctoral studies led to several years of overseas work in technical assistance programs promoting educational and economic development in Chile, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, and Tunisia, under the sponsorship of the Ford Foundation, Harvard University, the United Nations, and other agencies.

Hudson has been a founding faculty member of three innovative graduate programs: Fielding's online Masters Program in Organizational Management; the Interdisciplinary Program in Urban Studies at the Catholic University of Chile; and the UCLA Graduate Program in Urban Planning.

During most of the 1980s, he worked full-time as project manager, economist, and industrial process analyst with a Los Angeles-based engineering firm specializing in economic and technical assessment of emerging technology, including business development based on commercialization of technologies developed in aerospace. He has also taught professional business workshops and seminars with numerous clients including Price Waterhouse and Gulf Oil.

Hudson has a long-standing professional involvement in environmental programs. In the early 1990s he served as Acting Director for the nonprofit organization, EcoSource International, designated by the U.S. EPA, Region 9 as its West Coast Institute for Cooperative Environmental Management, to promote public-private partnerships for the adaptation of emerging technology on pollution prevention. Since 1992, he is (part-time) Special Projects Coordinator for environmental programs (research, teaching, public outreach) at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, at the university's Center for Regenerative Studies and LandLab. His current work focuses on urban forests, their public benefits, and private sector returns on investment.

Hudson's recent publications on distance learning include book chapters on concepts of "candlepower," "the jungle syndrome,"and complexity theory applied to online learning; an article for the Sage Encyclopedia of Distributed Learning; and a research paper on "The 80/20 Principle Applied to Redesign of Faculty Roles Online." Work continuing on development of short "academic toolkits" for collaborative work online (several dozen so far, most in support of masters thesis research projects); and investigation of the "dialectics of critical appreciation," looking for ways to achieve better balance (or creative tension) between appreciative inquiry and critical thinking.

Milton Lopes, PhD

Doctoral Faculty - School of Human & Organizational Development

Milton Lopes Granted Faculty Emeritus by the Fielding Board of Trustees in April 2014.

Milton Lopes joined Fielding in 2000, bringing his expertise in public administration and public sector policy processes, urban affairs, community development, ethics and morality, citizen discourse, and public philosophy to the School of Human and Organizational Development (HOD). In keeping with Fielding’s underlying value of the scholar-practitioner, Lopes combined his broad scholarship with an extensive experience as a skilled practitioner with over thirty years of government, military, community, and corporate experience. He has been involved in international, national and regional public policy, community and economic development, small business management training and technical assistance. He is a mediator, a public service professional who has contributed much to diverse communities in areas of community development and planning, both nationally and internationally.

As a Fielding faculty member, Lopes’ depth of understanding and knowledge as a scholar practitioner has promoted the learning and development of many HOD doctoral students and contributed to the quality of the dissertations for which he has served as a chair or as a faculty reader. He takes a keen interest in his students, caring deeply for the depth of their thinking, their attention to ethics and moral issues, and their success as doctorally qualified scholar-practitioners.

Lopes is a contributing member of HOD’s first doctoral concentration, ISAKO (Information Society and Knowledge Organizations). He brings a deep questioning to those who promote rapid acquisition of the most recent technological advances, urging us to take the time to reflect on the implications, ethical and practical, of relinquishing the tried and true when adopting the newest technologies.

As a researcher and scholar, Lopes’ interests and publications span many disciplines including group decision support systems, participatory governance, citizen discourse, and economic exclusion. Further broadening his intellectual pursuits, Lopes has studied spirituality and dreams. His academic affiliations and certifications range from executive coaching to spiritual direction and civil mediation. He consults nationally and internationally in areas including strategic planning, organizational ethics, program evaluation, and alternative dispute resolutions. His extensive accomplishments are accompanied by warmth for others, a twinkle in his eye, and a truly outstanding talent as a vocalist. He has inspired us throughout the years with his glorious voice that has graced many concert halls.

Through all of his years at Fielding, Lopes has served our community with the deepest integrity, combining his commitment to quality scholarship with responsible inquiry and, above all, a deep caring for the students, alumni, and faculty members of the Fielding community.

Ronald Lawrence, PhD (HOD 2013) acknowledged in his dissertation, “To my chair Milton Lopes, I offer my deepest respect and appreciation: you are one of the most spiritual men I’ve ever known, and your commitment to helping others grow in every way is a true gift to the world. I could not have done this without your support. “

Jeremy Shapiro, PhD

Doctoral Faculty - School of Human & Organizational Development

Jeremy Shapiro Granted Faculty Emeritus by the Fielding Board of Trustees in April 2014.

Jeremy Shapiro joined the university in 1977 (then Fielding Institute), as one of the founding faculty members of the School of Human and Organizational Development (HOD). During his 37 years with the university, Shapiro has served as a faculty member, HOD program director, associate dean, network and communications director, and Chair of Fielding’s Task Force on Electronic Communication, responsible for the development of the Fielding Electronic Network (FEN) and Fielding’s initial online network developed in the early 1990’s. His service has extended to many university-wide committees including the Academic Policy Committee and the Research Ethics Committee.

Throughout his multiple careers with the university, Shapiro’s brilliance, curiosity, and technical expertise has influenced the development of Fielding. His focus on the social, cultural, and psychological impacts of information technology and information systems provided the foundation of HOD’s first doctoral concentration, Information Society and Knowledge Organizations (ISAKO). Shapiro’s passionate interests extend far beyond this focus, as he is a leading scholar in critical social theory and a visionary who enlightens all that he does with a profound understanding of the aesthetics of music. As a gifted pianist, Schapiro has often woven the emotional richness of his music into the depths of his theoretical and philosophical thinking.

Shapiro has served as mentor and guide to many students, serving as dissertation C=chair or dissertation reader of over 50 students. When he engages in conversation, his full attention is given to the other and he listens with respect and appreciation for the person with whom he is conversing. His appreciation for his colleagues runs deep, and he has often been called upon to introduce his colleagues, as he is known for a keen understanding and a repository of countless, fascinating stories. He often meets with students, faculty, and alumni in coffee shops or in one of his salons, where people join with him for conversation, deep learnings, community…and espresso or tea.

In addition to his major contributions as a faculty member, Shapiro is internationally renowned for his extensive publications, research, and scholarship. He is co-author (with HOD faculty member Dr. Valerie Bentz) of Mindful Inquiry in Social Research, which has been a foundational text for HOD students since first published by SAGE in 1998.

As a multi-lingual scholar and philosopher, Shapiro has translated many publications of international philosophers, including Herbert Marcuse and Pierre Bourdieu. He was the original translator of Jürgen Habermas’s, Knowledge and Human Interests and Toward a Rational Society. Even as he prepares to retire from the role as a core faculty member, he is forging new ways of continue to engage in conversation, projects, and writings with Fielding colleagues. His interests keep expanding, combining the richness of his past with keen insight into the most significant issues of today and tomorrow, including issues of privacy in an interconnected world.

Shapiro is respected and loved by faculty, student, and alumni colleagues. Loni Davis, PhD (HOD 2013) acknowledged in her dissertation: “Jeremy Shapiro, my Committee Chair and mentor, who is the rarest combination of intellectual curiosity, mindfulness and intuition I’ve yet to experience and who embodies the notion that “nothing makes a student more able and capable than being helped to believe she is able and capable.”